Aesthetics and educational significance of public sculptures at Mankessim

Abstract

This study examined the aesthetics and the educational significance of public sculptures of Mankessim in the Mfantseman Municipality of Ghana. Scholars have made expositions on the philosophical and historical aspect of the public sculptures of Mankessim however, there remained a scholarly gap in the areas of aesthetics and educational significance of the sculptures of which the study sought to address. A descriptive case study design was adopted for the study and purposive sampling technique was employed in sampling sixteen (16) respondents. Thus three (3) art teachers, three (3) art students four (4) local residents, two (2) local artists and four (4) Traditional leaders of Mankessim were drawn for the study. The instrumentation used were interview, observation and artefacts and data gathered for the study was subjected to visual and thematic analysis. The study revealed among other things that public sculptures of Mankessim were not entirely ignored but the level of appreciation was relatively low. The study however recommended that there must be regular and proper maintenance to accentuate it relevance, while sensitizing the public about potential benefit of public sculptures.